During the 1930s, several animated shorts presented silly caricatures of celebrities in unlikely situations. The 1933 Warner Bros. offering “I’ve Got to Sing a Torch Song” is among the most interesting of this mini-genre, with some genuinely amusing gags involving the big names of the day.
Hare-Way to the Stars (1958)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Richard Thompson, Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Harry Love
Music by Milt Franklyn
A half-asleep Bugs Bunny, hungover from mixing carrot juice and radish juice the night before, climbs up the ladder of his underground residence to take his morning bath in a nearby pond, unaware that a space agency parked a rocket ship directly above his hole in the ground. Bugs keeps climbing from the hole into the rocket, which blasts off from the Earth. Bugs only realizes his predicament when he unscrews the rocket’s cap and gets knocked off by a speeding satellite that lands him the lair of Marvin the Martian, who is planning to blow up the Earth with his “Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator” because it obscures his view of Venus. Bugs steals the “Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator” and Marvin dispatches a squad of Martians to capture him.
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I don’t know how many people would agree with me on this, but I think that “Pecos Pest” is the greatest of the Golden Age Tom and Jerry cartoons. I am enthralled with this short because it deviates from the usual knockabout of the series with the inclusion of an audacious new character who shakes up the comedy with inventive humor.
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Hare-Less Wolf (1958)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis, Virgil Ross
Music by Milt Franklyn
One of the most inspired one-shot characters in the Bugs Bunny series is Charles M. Wolf, a genial lupine slob who is yanked out a relaxing afternoon watching a baseball game on television by his harridan wife who orders him to hunt a rabbit for dinner. As he exits his cave residence with a rifle, Charles looks to the viewer and angrily whispers, “I hate her” – a declaration that is punctuated by his off-screen wife throwing a pot directly at his head.
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Rabbit Romeo (1957)
Directed by Robert McKimson
Story by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ted Bonnicksen and George Grandpre
Music by Milt Franklyn
Elmer Fudd’s Uncle Judd ships him a Slobovian rabbit to watch until he returns from abroad, with the offer of $500 for his efforts. The rabbit is a large female named Millicent who behaves with unhappy destructiveness. A doctor is called to examine Millicent and Elmer is informed that Millicent is lonely and wants another rabbit as a companion. Elmer lures Bugs Bunny in from a cold winter night, and Millicent immediately falls in love with Bugs – indeed, she’s ready to marry him after making his acquaintance for several seconds. Bugs tries to escape, but Elmer keeps blocking his exit by brandishing a rifle.
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Bugsy and Mugsy (1957)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Animation by Virgil Ross, Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis
Music by Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn
Bugs Bunny is forced to relocate from his hole-in-the-ground residence after it gets flooded during a rainstorm. He takes shelter in a condemned tenement, only to discover the building is the hideout of the bank robbers Rocky and Mugsy. The gangsters are unaware of Bugs’ presence, and the mischievous rabbit uses trickery to convince Rocky that Mugsy is trying to kill him and claim the stolen loot for himself.
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Piker’s Peak (1957)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Story by Warren Foster
Music by Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Arthur Davis, and Virgil Ross
In a small Swiss village, a competition is announced where a prize of 50,000 kronkites will be given to the first one who can climb the Schmatterhorn mountain. Yosemite Sam, dressed in Alpine mountain-climbing gear rather than his usual cowboy attire, agrees to the challenge. To Sam’s unhappiness, Bugs Bunny decides to try his luck at conquering the Schmatterhorn. Sam engages in outlandish chicanery designed to throw his competitor from the mountain, but inevitably winds up the victim of his deranged schemes
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